Project Ring-shed E36 325i
Discussion
minimatt1967 said:
Looking good Sniff let the fun begin!
O/T the old derv tourer looks good on the '28i sport rims
Yeah I like the way they suit the car, I only put them on to use up tyres before getting a set of wets or R888's on them for the track car. The handling with them is better through fast sweepers but down a bumpy B road the tramlining makes the car a lot less stable so I guess I'll go back to the original 15's when the tyres need changing.O/T the old derv tourer looks good on the '28i sport rims
gareth.e said:
Awesome project sniff..
Also I thought I recognised your 205gti in the first pic it was shown in.. I wanted that car so bad! But it was wrong timing for me
It was worth the monies you advertised it for sure.. I've got a dejavu figure of £1750? for some reason lol
Cheers Gareth, it's starting to come along now. I had a mate knock up some seat mounts after the OMP ones I ordered didn't fit the seats. The passenger seat will just be bolted down as low and far back as possible (they're essentially ballast anyway) but he's rigged up a neat sliding mechanism using the runners from the original seat and a bit of welding. One thing that bugged about the 205 was the seat was bolted in position and whilst being a perfect driving position for myself a couple of mates weren't able to drive it comfortably.Also I thought I recognised your 205gti in the first pic it was shown in.. I wanted that car so bad! But it was wrong timing for me
It was worth the monies you advertised it for sure.. I've got a dejavu figure of £1750? for some reason lol
I ended up letting it go for £1550 after having it advertised for a couple of months. TBH it was probably due a suspension refresh as it never felt as happy once it had the 309 rear beam and wishbones fitted. I ran the reg number through http://www.askmid.com/askmid.aspx the other day and it came up as insured, can't believe the new owner is mad enough to use it on the road.
Well, the car has been back from painting for 3 weeks now so I guess the paint's had chance to fully harden so I've been able to do some of the nicer jobs to help finish it off.
Got the polycarbonate windows in, the rear screen was bonded in:
I've left the outer protective film on it for now as it's the same plastic I had in my 205 GTi track car and they scratched really easily.
The original spoiler was screwed on and there was a fair bit of rust around the holes, now it's been nicely painted I was reluctant to drill some new ones so just bonded the new spoiler on too. Can anyone advise whether that will hold or will I need to screw it down aswel?
Got the side windows in, managed to fit them into the little lip that originally holds the strip of trim against the bottom of the glass. Got opening sliders in the fronts (I never bothered with any openings in my Peugeot and that would get bloomin hot!). Also got the DTM style mirrors fitted. I never bothered with the backing plate that was supplied with them as I had to cut it to fit and would have looked messy, so I just fitted them into the gaps left by the original mirrors and filled the gap with a thin strip of bonding agent:
Had my mate weld me up some brackets for the seat mounts, the passenger one is just fixed as low and far back as possible and the driver's seat is mounted on a modified original runners.
Since my attempts at trimming some of the excess wiring out of the car the thing won't start. After many days worth of my spare time I still can't get the thing going (the dials all light up and it turns over but just won't fire) I got hold of this MOT failure for cheap:
It's an identical J reg 325i so I'm going to remove the entire loom from it and just leave it standard for now. When the funds allow I'll get an Auto-electrician to par the wiring down.
Oh, and if anyone needs any E36 bits off the burgundy one drop us a PM
Got the polycarbonate windows in, the rear screen was bonded in:
I've left the outer protective film on it for now as it's the same plastic I had in my 205 GTi track car and they scratched really easily.
The original spoiler was screwed on and there was a fair bit of rust around the holes, now it's been nicely painted I was reluctant to drill some new ones so just bonded the new spoiler on too. Can anyone advise whether that will hold or will I need to screw it down aswel?
Got the side windows in, managed to fit them into the little lip that originally holds the strip of trim against the bottom of the glass. Got opening sliders in the fronts (I never bothered with any openings in my Peugeot and that would get bloomin hot!). Also got the DTM style mirrors fitted. I never bothered with the backing plate that was supplied with them as I had to cut it to fit and would have looked messy, so I just fitted them into the gaps left by the original mirrors and filled the gap with a thin strip of bonding agent:
Had my mate weld me up some brackets for the seat mounts, the passenger one is just fixed as low and far back as possible and the driver's seat is mounted on a modified original runners.
Since my attempts at trimming some of the excess wiring out of the car the thing won't start. After many days worth of my spare time I still can't get the thing going (the dials all light up and it turns over but just won't fire) I got hold of this MOT failure for cheap:
It's an identical J reg 325i so I'm going to remove the entire loom from it and just leave it standard for now. When the funds allow I'll get an Auto-electrician to par the wiring down.
Oh, and if anyone needs any E36 bits off the burgundy one drop us a PM
benny.c said:
I think as a punishment for messing around with the wiring you should have to continue with the DIY cutting job until you can get the thing to start. Nicking a fresh loom from another car is cheating
Looking great though Rich, when are you hoping to get out on track? I feel a photo op coming on with our car.
Wasting a month with no result is punishment enough. You got yours pared down yet? I reckon yours would be under 1100kgs if you did.Looking great though Rich, when are you hoping to get out on track? I feel a photo op coming on with our car.
If all goes well I think I should be out sometime in July. Will deffo have to get the cars together at some point.
benny.c said:
Give me a shout before you book a trackday and we'll see if we can get there on the same day (assuming your at Oulton that is).
Will take it to Oulton for it's first track day as the car will be unfamiliar but at least the circuit won't be. Will definately give you a shout before booking anything, I'm expecting a few teething problems and you and Mike seem to know your way round an e36 now.
_Batty_ said:
once i get a car mate i'll pop up. still would like to help 
I appreciate you have bigger things to sort out for now Matt, hope your missus isn't too shaken up after the roll(s). You know where there's a BBQ this weekend if you want to get away from things.If I ever take it to Castle Coombe you'll have to come along.
_Batty_ said:
so is your car running an open diff?
Yeah just the standard 3.15 ratio open diff. I have a 3.45 diff in the shed of that black 320i I broke up but that has the narower casing so I'd need to use the longer half-shafts, and I'm not sure if they would fit in my standard rear hubs... TBh I just want to get an LSD with a decent ratio in there next winter as I plan to overhall the rear end, remove the old underseal and apply new stuff and put it all back together with polybushes on the diff mounts and trailing arms.
Got the car out to wash it for the first time in many months.
I also fitted the grills which I'd sprayed matt black:
And got the passenger seat in, you can see how low it is comapared to the drivers seat. I'll have to see if any passengers complain if they can't see where they're going.
I want to get some blanking plates to fill the holes where the fog lights used to be, I'll run some ducting to the brakes from the other holes on the bumper.
I fitted a smaller steering wheel that was from that black 320i I broke up. being a smaller diameter it makes it easier to get past the cage into the seat, not sure how much heavier it'll make the steering yet.
I also fitted the grills which I'd sprayed matt black:
And got the passenger seat in, you can see how low it is comapared to the drivers seat. I'll have to see if any passengers complain if they can't see where they're going.
I want to get some blanking plates to fill the holes where the fog lights used to be, I'll run some ducting to the brakes from the other holes on the bumper.
I fitted a smaller steering wheel that was from that black 320i I broke up. being a smaller diameter it makes it easier to get past the cage into the seat, not sure how much heavier it'll make the steering yet.
benny.c said:
Looking minty fresh Rich
How come the passenger seat is so much lower? Is the drivers seat lifted so you can see properly, or are the mountings just different?
Cheers Ben, should look great when it's stickered up. How come the passenger seat is so much lower? Is the drivers seat lifted so you can see properly, or are the mountings just different?
The mounts are different, the drivers seat is on some modified original runners but the passenger seat is just fixed on a frame made from 5mm x 25mm strips of steal. The pass seat is a bit more reclined too so it looks a lot lower than it realy is, it's only about 30-40mm lower actually.
I've got to get the seats out again when the time come to thread the loom back in so I'll get some pictures of the mounts then.
Got the loom out of that old burgundy 325i today, bigger job than anticipated but got there in the end:
Out of interest I tried my best to weigh the complete original loom by holding it whilst standing on my bathroom scales, not very precise but it appears to weigh just under 30kgs (that's in a car with electric sunroof, ABS, front fogs, and the standard BMW alarm) by junking the electric window, central locking, sunroof, front fogs, OBC, stereo, and 2 of the horns (there were 3 as standard!) I should have a car that starts and runs with just the bear essentials to keep it road legal. Hopefully in a few days it should be able to run under it's own steam again.
Out of interest I tried my best to weigh the complete original loom by holding it whilst standing on my bathroom scales, not very precise but it appears to weigh just under 30kgs (that's in a car with electric sunroof, ABS, front fogs, and the standard BMW alarm) by junking the electric window, central locking, sunroof, front fogs, OBC, stereo, and 2 of the horns (there were 3 as standard!) I should have a car that starts and runs with just the bear essentials to keep it road legal. Hopefully in a few days it should be able to run under it's own steam again.
Wasn't able to get the head off for you today Bob sorry as I spent 14 hours sorting out my wiring on the track car but at least it starts now for the first time in months. Good job as I was getting fed up pushing it in and out the garage all the time.
Hope to get the head off for you tomorrow evening and send it out tuesday, all being well it should be with you by thursday.
Hope to get the head off for you tomorrow evening and send it out tuesday, all being well it should be with you by thursday.
bulletproofbob said:
Rich, no panic, wait for the money to arrive... clear... etc etc ha ha
Good job you're in no rush, after such a hot day in the cab the last thing I wanted to do was start on the car this evening. I want the car off my lawn ASAP so I definately have it off by the end of the week.Smashed said:
I wondered where this car had gotten to!
was just down the road from me, me and a couple mates were going to buy it and drive across Europe in it!
Love what you've done with it. I love white E36's they just look brilliant!
If you don't mind my asking how much did a total respray cost you?
Cheers.
It's getting there, after a lot of wasted time on the wiring the MK2 loom seems to be working still and is less than half of the amount of the original wiring.was just down the road from me, me and a couple mates were going to buy it and drive across Europe in it!
Love what you've done with it. I love white E36's they just look brilliant!
If you don't mind my asking how much did a total respray cost you?
Cheers.
I've listed all the costs in my profile, the respray cost £1450 but included inside and out as well as treating a few bits of rust and filling and smoothing the arches.
Bit of an update, been busy sorting out all the final little things that seem to take an age. Got the protective film off the rear windows and put some sealant around the edge to stop water getting in (hopefully!)
Got a pair of shorter rear springs from Gaz (6" instead of the 7" that were originally supplied) It still looks to be sitting a bit high at the rear for my liking, but I'm told even the race cars don't run any shorter springs than these. I'll have to see how it handles on track, I could always try removing the adjuster cup thing the springs sit it, even on it's lowest setting it's about 20mm high.
Had to tweak the positioning of the bonnet pins to set the height of the bonnet correctly. I'd have preferred some aero catches but they're horrendously expensive for what they are (£40 a pair instead of £3 a pair for the ones I've used)
Also run some ducting to the front brake calipers.
Had to make a bracket (basically a bolt with a rubber stop on the end) to stop the bonnet from resting on the passenger side wiper. You can see it just under the hinge on the passenger side wiper:
Got the harnesses in, I think the shoulder belts going to the rear should be ok mounted like this, but I know there's certain minimum and maximum angles for them. Would appreciate your views on whether these are mounted ok:
As the induction kit in it's standard location was suffering a lot of heat soak from the engine, I decided to experiment with it mounted behind the bumper grill with a ducting going to the intake. If this works I'll replace the tin foil air conditioning ducting with some harder wearing stuff.
I bought this Ruff oil filter housing lid from another forum member, it has a couple of threaded holes to mount the senders for aftermarket oil pressure and temperature gauges. Unfortunately the temperature sender I have is too fat to fit the holes, so I just blanked the one off and will have to find another place to mount the temp sender.
You can see the gauge just temporarily taped in the hole in the dash. I've got some nice panels being made to fill the holes on the dash, they should look pretty special when they're done.
As you can see the wiring is a lot tidier than it was. After a lot of messing around trying to mount all the fuses and relays inside the car it was just going to look too messy for me, so I've just gone back to the standard fuse box. If you remember this was how it looked:
And how it looks now, I've painted the rest of the underneath the dash with Hammerite just to tidy it up. Had a stiff back for a few days after working in such an awkward place, really should have done all this before the cage went it.
I've not gone nuts on trimming excess wiring, just tidied a few bits up:
The 2 black boxes are to control the wash wipe and the lights. I'm not sure what these 3 blue relays are for nor can I remember where they came from if someone would care to enlighten me.
Being as I no longer have front fogs, I've used the switch for the hazard lights instead.
I've got hold of these Eibach rear camber adjustable suspension arms from the same forum member I got the filter housing lid from. I'll get these on next week before getting the suspension set up.
Got a pair of shorter rear springs from Gaz (6" instead of the 7" that were originally supplied) It still looks to be sitting a bit high at the rear for my liking, but I'm told even the race cars don't run any shorter springs than these. I'll have to see how it handles on track, I could always try removing the adjuster cup thing the springs sit it, even on it's lowest setting it's about 20mm high.
Had to tweak the positioning of the bonnet pins to set the height of the bonnet correctly. I'd have preferred some aero catches but they're horrendously expensive for what they are (£40 a pair instead of £3 a pair for the ones I've used)
Also run some ducting to the front brake calipers.
Had to make a bracket (basically a bolt with a rubber stop on the end) to stop the bonnet from resting on the passenger side wiper. You can see it just under the hinge on the passenger side wiper:
Got the harnesses in, I think the shoulder belts going to the rear should be ok mounted like this, but I know there's certain minimum and maximum angles for them. Would appreciate your views on whether these are mounted ok:
As the induction kit in it's standard location was suffering a lot of heat soak from the engine, I decided to experiment with it mounted behind the bumper grill with a ducting going to the intake. If this works I'll replace the tin foil air conditioning ducting with some harder wearing stuff.
I bought this Ruff oil filter housing lid from another forum member, it has a couple of threaded holes to mount the senders for aftermarket oil pressure and temperature gauges. Unfortunately the temperature sender I have is too fat to fit the holes, so I just blanked the one off and will have to find another place to mount the temp sender.
You can see the gauge just temporarily taped in the hole in the dash. I've got some nice panels being made to fill the holes on the dash, they should look pretty special when they're done.
As you can see the wiring is a lot tidier than it was. After a lot of messing around trying to mount all the fuses and relays inside the car it was just going to look too messy for me, so I've just gone back to the standard fuse box. If you remember this was how it looked:
And how it looks now, I've painted the rest of the underneath the dash with Hammerite just to tidy it up. Had a stiff back for a few days after working in such an awkward place, really should have done all this before the cage went it.
I've not gone nuts on trimming excess wiring, just tidied a few bits up:
The 2 black boxes are to control the wash wipe and the lights. I'm not sure what these 3 blue relays are for nor can I remember where they came from if someone would care to enlighten me.
Being as I no longer have front fogs, I've used the switch for the hazard lights instead.
I've got hold of these Eibach rear camber adjustable suspension arms from the same forum member I got the filter housing lid from. I'll get these on next week before getting the suspension set up.
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